Wrexham man’s banger rally across Europe for RNLI Penlee Station

A WREXHAM man is preparing to take part in a cross-Europe banger rally to raise money for RNLI Penlee Station.

Mike Levens, from Wrexham, is packing up his £299 car along with friends Tom van Mourik and Ben Wilson to travel across Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Monaco and France, covering over 2,500 miles.

Mr Levens says they are aiming to raise £2,500 for RNLI Penlee Station, explaining why he believes it’s a worthwhile cause to raise money for.

“RNLI do an amazing job; they save lives of so many on a daily basis and I think it’s very important to raise money for a great cause such as this.

“There’s also a personal connection as well, my friend’s brother was lost in the Penlee Disaster back in 1981, and because of that I’d like to raise money for them as well.”

On Saturday, December 19, 1981 the Penlee lifeboat ‘Solomon Browne’ was launched in hurricane conditions to go to the aid of a vessel that had engine failure and was being swept towards the southern coast of Cornwall. After the ‘Solomon Browne’ had managed to rescue four people, radio contact was lost. Both vessels were subsequently wrecked losing all hands. In total sixteen people lost their lives including the eight volunteer lifeboatmen of Penlee.

Mr Levens went on to state that this was not his first-time taking part in a cross-Europe banger rally and explained the logistics of the trip.

“I actually did the same thing back in 2015, going across Monaco and France and raising around £2,500 then, so I would like to try and hit the same target this time around.

“It’s cost a bit to get the car up and running again, getting it painted and everything.

“We’ll all be dressed up as Starsky and Hutch, as well as Huggy Bear Brown, and the car will be painted in that theme as well.

“We’ll be meeting in Belgium, travelling to Friedberg in Germany, through to Italy, over to Monte Carlo and finishing up in Nice in France.

“We’re paying for all of our accommodation out of our own pockets but every penny that we raise will going directly to RNLI Penlee Station and I hope that people will support us.

“You can follow our journey on Facebook at ‘Mike, Tom and Ben’s Big Road Journey, or if you’d like to donate then visit https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/mike-levens-penlee-station.”